President Joe Biden said Tuesday night that Americans’ access to high-performance Covid antiviral pills will be increased under a new “Test Treatment” plan being introduced by the federal government, and that pills that were once in short supply should soon be readily available. in the United States, as officials are pushing hard to put the pandemic in a rear view.
Paxlovid, a Covid antivirus pill made by Pfizer, will now be available in US pharmacies for anyone who tests positive to receive it for free, the president announced on Tuesday (photo file)
Speaking to Congress during a speech on the state of the Union, the president announced that the country had increased its purchase order for Pfizer’s Paxlovid from 10 million to 20 million. The drug, which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) late last year, is considered the most effective treatment after infection, but the company reportedly had problems with production.
“If you get COVID-19, the Pfizer pill reduces your chances of being hospitalized by 90 percent,” Biden said.
“I have ordered more pills than anyone in the world. Pfizer is working overtime to provide us with a million pills this month and more than double next month.
As manufacturing problems are somewhat alleviated and the United States will soon have more access to the drug, Biden has announced a “Test for Treatment” program. Under the new system, every American can get a Covid test at a pharmacy, and if the test is positive, they will be offered free Paxlovid courses. Officials hope that this effort could bring important drugs into the hands of Americans more quickly, cutting some of the bureaucracy needed to obtain a prescription.
Efforts can also learn from the severity of the pandemic facing hospitals. Paxlovid is very effective in reducing hospitalizations caused by the virus if the treatment regimen is started early enough for an infection. The widespread use of these pills could free up hospital resources and leave them to be used only by those most at risk from Covid.
President Joe Biden (pictured) said in a speech on the state of the Union on Tuesday night that Covid “can no longer control our lives” as he announced initiatives that would help move out of the pandemic.
It also coincides with a change in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last week, where the agency shifted its focus from preventing overall case transmission to reducing hospitalizations. The CDC has reviewed the way it calculates Covid’s risk in each county – and how it recommends mask orders based on these risks – as the agency will now seriously weigh hospitalization rates and hospital capacity.
All of this comes as a greater effort to move beyond the pandemic in America. The number of cases has halved in the last month and Americans are eager to return to “normal” life. The nation is currently registering 63,881 new cases a day, a 26% drop in the last seven days and a 90% drop from the mid-January peak of 800,000 a day.
Americans are also highly protected from the virus, with official CDC figures showing that 88 percent of adults have received at least the COVID-19 vaccine and 75 percent have been fully vaccinated. The agency also reported that 94.4 million Americans received a booster.
An AP-NORC study conducted last month found that only 24 percent of Americans are still very concerned about themselves or someone in their family who is infected with the virus.
“Thanks to the progress we have made over the past year, COVID-19 no longer has to control our lives,” Biden told lawmakers.
“We will continue to fight the virus, as well as other diseases. And since this is a virus that mutates and spreads, we will be on the alert.
Biden also promised that the federal government would work to bring out variant-specific vaccines more quickly in the event of another highly contagious variant, such as Omicron. The strain, which represents almost every case in the United States, according to the CDC, erupted in December, sending vaccine manufacturers to work on developing an Omicron-specific stroke.
However, the option works faster than scientists could, raging in the population before new vaccines become available. While Pfizer and Moderna are expected to release custom photos of Omicron later this month, cases are likely to be so low by then that there will be little demand.
“I can’t promise that a new option won’t come, but I can promise you that we will do our best to be ready if it happens,” Biden said.
“If necessary, we will be able to introduce new vaccines within 100 days, instead of many more months or years.”
However, there are questions as to whether this would be necessary at all. The United States managed to overcome Omicron’s jump – which will probably be the worst of all time – without individualized strikes and instead was carried by natural immunity and widely available amplification strikes.
Today, more and more American cities and states are lifting Covid’s restrictions and allowing their citizens to live normally. Hawaii remains the only state that either still has a mandate for a mask or has no day to remove it in the coming weeks. However, the island nation may soon join its counterparts as officials lifted quarantine requirements for visitors on Tuesday.
New York, which had some of the strictest guidelines for Covid during the pandemic, will even remove vaccine checks and mask mandates from March 7. However, the city’s mandate for private employers will continue to apply.
